Rewriting Myths
by Fishandfoxes2101
Summary: During a campfire Soos tells an old myth that Dipper seems to recognise from the Book 3. But is this myth really true? When Dipper goes through nothing but unfortunate events involving animal spirits and some kind of dark energy deep within the forest; he discovers that a part of the book is wrongly written. Can he rewrite the page and return himself to normal at the same time?
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

* * *

It was raining outside, one of those typical summer storms that just happens occasionally. Nevertheless did Stan hate these days. It was to no surprise since it always cost him a whole day with no income, and losing money was one of his worst nightmares.

Wendy had shown up for work as usual but again… as usual she was reading one of the magazines she hid beneath the counter. Today she actually had a good reason to sit and do nothing but read them, denying any kind of cleaning or work in the rest of the shop. Dipper and Mabel however were glad she had decided to show up for today, it was nice to have one more for company and games.

Mabel was trying out the shack's gift shops many hats, making funny voices and act out different scenes with Wendy… Only when Stan wasn't around of course.

"Look at me, I'm a lumberjack eh!" Mabel said in a mocking Canadian accent as she stomped around, grunting with a beanie dragged all the way down beneath her eyes. She fumbled for a plastic axe which she knew Stan had standing around 'for the little kids'. Mabel was chuckling and replaced her own hat, by putting it quickly over Dipper's head(and cap) with one of the beanies too, grunting along with Mabel. "Ooh! I am so manly I need to punch this pillow until it explodes!" She growled and played along.

Dipper observed them with a grin and took Wendy's hat off, looking at it. It was soft and had that lovely scent of pine trees which Wendy so nicely carried. He assumed it was because her father was an actual lumberjack. Of course it smelled like pine forest all over the place since they… kinda… lived in one but, her scent was just different y'know? It was sorta sweeter.

"Dipper. Hey." Two fingers snapped right in front of his face and he snapped back to reality. It was Wendy; she was standing and leaning slightly with that smile on her face. "What's up with that dream like face? You like my hat?" She grinned and Dipper flushed embarrassed. "Ah! Um, No - I mean yes - Well…" Dipper tried to come up with some sort of explanation but his brain wasn't with him today.

_You're gonna pay for that later by the way. _He scolded his brain before blinking and grinning nervously to Wendy. "It's cool, you know what. You can keep it."

"W-what?" Dipper stuttered and looked at her in surprise. "Yeah it's fine. I have several at home - apparently my dad thinks it's a good present every year for Christmas." She said with sigh and placed her hands on her hips. "I can never say no to him."

Mabel came over to them, holding the beanie in her hand. "Oh! I'll take that then!" She grabbed Dipper's hat and pranced around. "Look at me! I'm Dipper Pines! My sister is the sweetest sister in the world and I have nothing against being her little brother."

Dipper was scowling while Wendy was chuckling behind a hand. "I am not your little brother." He said, "Gimme that!" He snatched the hat off her head and put it back onto his head. "Yes you are, little Dippy." She cooed and pinched his cheeks causing him to flail and yelp. "5 minutes is enough to be my baby bro." Mabel taunted and took his hat again. Dipper was far too exhausted with her teasing that he waved her in defeat. "Ugh."

"It's okay to be a little brother." Wendy said, trying to comfort him but Dipper was already on his way to the attic. "Yeah yeah I'm sure it's fine."

Dipper cared for his sister of course and they had had this whole conversation about being older or taller or whatever before. The twelve year old kid clenched his hands around the furred hat feeling the softness. "Who cares anyways?" He muttered to himself and placed on the bench right at the window where he liked to be when he needed time for himself, to think through things.

Pulling out the very special book which he had acquired early this summer and yet still hadn't read entirely through. It was one of the biggest secret of Gravity Falls; Places and obscure creatures that should only have belonged in myths and movies. Like zombies or gnomes… or Gideon! Dipper shivered by the thought of that little nutcase still roaming around probably thinking about some sort of crazy plan to get rid of Stan and himself, win Mabel(Which luckily won't ever happen, she had assured him) and obtain the Mystery Shack.

Why; he didn't know, and right now he actually didn't care.

Dipper sighed and flipped randomly through the book, listening to the rain as it tapped on the coloured glass with light touches. After what seemed to be 20 minutes or so it knocked on the door and Mabel entered. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah." He replied but didn't look up.

"Wendy left, Grunkle Stan gave her the rest of the day off - talking about not wanting to use any more money than it already is costing him today." She grinned, showing her braces off and skipped inside; Waddles followed her with his small grunting noises. There wasn't any reply and she rolled her eyes. "Come on Dipper. Are you still cranky about the whole little brother thing?"

"You should absolutely do it in front of Wendy, shouldn't you?" He said with a disappointed frown. "She's the oldest sibling of four. She knows everything about little brothers and now she's probably gonna think I'm like one of them. A little kid." The whole thing about being younger than her made him feel ridicules to have the crush on her - but it wasn't exactly a feeling you can control just like that.

Mabel threw the hat into his face making him drop the book in surprise. "Come off it Dipper! You're always making these presumptions and they're never right! You know it! Besides - it's all in good fun and I doubt she even cares!"

"But what if she does Mabel? What if she does care and what if I'm just gonna be a little brother in her eyes forever!" He pulled lightly in his hair. "And what if I got a boyfriend who's not a vampire?!" She replied in the same panicking tone of voice before giggling and punched him on the shoulder. "Dipper! So what if that happens. It's not the end of the world. She still comes to the Shack right?"

"I want to hide up here forever." Dipper murmured and hid his face in the soft hat, maybe inhaling some of the sweet smell… okay that sounded maybe a bit weird and stalker-ish but he couldn't really avoid it seeing as his head was tucked into the fur pretty nicely.

"Don't be such a wimp bro." Mabel said and placed the book aside, moving closer. Dipper looked up and was about to answer that with some other come back when a weird glimpse caught his attention outside in the rain.

"Huh?" He looked out of the window, placing a hand on the glass and looked a weird slurred figure in the heavy rain, but due to the low light he couldn't figure out what it was. "What are you looking at?" Mabel asked with a sudden amount of enthusiasm, crushing her face to the glass. Dipper turned his head slightly and gave her a raised eyebrow, observing her as she started pointing out things.

"Was it the tree?"

"No it -"  
"What about that rock?!"

"No Mabe -"

"No I know! It was definitely that bush over there!" She said excited and pointed at it.

"Mabel!"

"Yes my dear twin brother." Mabel replied with blinking eyes and Dipper clasped his hand over her face. "You're going to get blind with that constant blinking."

"Am not!" She laughed and removed his hands. "I thought I saw an animal but I guess it was nothing." He shrugged and looked out again trying to see if he could see some traces or whatever he saw before, again.

However Waddles suddenly came in between them and pressed his snout against the window, grunting. "Yeah you're right! The rain IS stopping." She gasped, "Dipper! Dipper! Dipper!" A sudden shake in his shirt took him by surprise and he stuttered nonsense. "Y-Yes M-Mabel what i-is it?"

"It has almost stopped raining!" She said again. "You're repeating yourself sister." Dipper replied and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Also why are you still holding on to my vest?"

"BECAUSE MUDHOLES!" She excitedly exclaimed and dragged him out of the attic room with a sudden gained strength.

"Mabel I can walk on my own!" He tried to explain but she seemed way too happy about this sudden revelation of… well mud. "We gotta hurry!" She said gleefully and plopped on a pair of gumboots. "Come on Dipper! Before it disappear!"

"I doubt it'll dry away the next hour." He replied with a grimace. Mabel stuck out her tongue and grabbed his wrist and dragged him outside, oddly enough too strong for him to restrain. "When did you start working out Mabel?" He complained and tried to pull his arm back; eventually she lat go, but that was of course just before she made the first jump onto the biggest mud puddle causing all of the water to splash out on every direction.

Dipper of course was right in the firing line; his whole front completely changed of colour into this muddy dark nuance. "Classy Mabel. Really classy." Of course this demanded revenge so, not bothering with the fact that he was only wearing his usual sneakers he leaped to the water, creating just as big a splash as his sister had done.

Now that they both had been introduced to the water, the war could finally begin. Jumping, stomping in the water, kicking it toward each other and they kept going for several minutes. It was filled with laughter as the sun silently snuck its way through the dark clouds and shined gladly on the playing kids.

It was nice playing while the sun was burning through the empty clouds, because that meant they didn't have to worry about being cold afterwards and could just throw themselves at the grass at the perimeter of the forest and wait for the sun to dry their clothes.

"Although it's gonna be difficult to walk around with dry mud on our clothes." Dipper suddenly said as he looked at the sky and observed how the clouds were separating, giving the sunlight more space. "Maybe you're right. Changing into something less stiff might be a good idea." Mabel thought out loud before letting out a loud 'Naaah' and spread out her arms with a sigh. "It's too comfortable right here on this grass spot. I am not moving until I can't actually move."

"Then… How will you move then?"

"Oh I'll probably have Waddles drag me inside or something." Mable said like it was nothing to worry about. Dipper on the other hand wasn't fond of his t-shirt being covered in a thick layer of dirt while wearing it. "I'll go inside and change." He said to his sister whom nodded in response not bothering looking at him.

Dipper grinned and got up on his feet, feeling his sneakers and socks soak in the lasting water and grimaced, "Maybe change into some other pair of shoes…" Mabel laughed and said something about changing into gumboots before going outside but Dipper had lost interest when he the same fog-thing right in the shadows of the forest. Again it was too unclear to see what it was before it vanished into the air.

"Probably just my imagination." He tried to reassure himself as he took off his t-shirt and dug into his trunk for another one, it looked exactly like the old one. Having a lot of different and colourful sets of clothes was Mabel's part and expertise, having an orange t-shirt and his trademark, water-absorbing vest and a pair of shorts for the heat, was enough for him. Mabel could keep the rainbow sweaters.

"My mind is trying to make up ghost stories since all these weird experiences here in Gravity Falls." He said with a smile, though it ended up looking more like a forced grimace and gave up on that pretty quickly.

"Maybe I should look up ghosts again. Could be the book said something about ghosts in the forest and fog… I didn't exactly have the time to read into it last time." Dipper recalled the unfortunate trip to the haunted convenience store - never again was he going there. It could be haunted by itself thank you very much.

So Dipper snatched his book from the room and went back outside, no reason to stay indoors now that it was finally nice weather and could therefore enjoy the rest of the afternoon. Mabel was playing with Waddles in the grass, squealing and cooing at her all time favourite pig and Dipper had made himself comfortable on a bench(without shoes on though, they had been washed for mud), reading up on the page about ghosts.

It wasn't as though it had updated itself while he had been outside so it was the same old writing and the exact same choice of words on the page - and the exact same stories. Nothing new there… Dipper sighed and flipped through the pages again, seeing if he could find something he had yet to discover. However he didn't find anything before his sister suddenly popped up in front of him. "Dipper!" She said with her usual tone of happiness. Well no more reading while she was here so the book got closed again.

"Grunkle Stan promised that we could make a campfire tonight!" She seemed just as excited about this as she had about the mud holes. "We'll roast hotdogs and s'mores and Soos said he'd join!" Dipper's smile grew, now that he thought about it they hadn't had one of those for a long time and camping was a habit of doing when summer was here. But y'know… living practically inside a forest, haunted by the super-naturals coming right out of the latest book of 'Horror-stories-perfect-for-camping', makes you forget that you aren't exactly camping.

"Stan said he knew a place where they could lit up the place without putting fire to the woods and of course if it should happen we should just run away."

"I know I know - so we won't get sued." Dipper replied stopping her mouth for a second and she grinned with a nod.

Stan and safety precautions weren't exactly two words joining together in the dictionary.

Heck Stan and legal wasn't exactly two words joining together in the dictionary… ever.

* * *

_A/N:_

_I apologise for any kind of grammar mistakes or mispelling~  
_

_This is my very first fanfiction I have dared to publish so I would very much appreciate some reviews if it has caught interest. :3  
_

_Otherwise I hope you've enjoyed and please do expect chapters soon.  
_


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

* * *

Dinner was done outside and though Grunkle Stan hadn't been entirely happy about using money on the remedies they needed for the fire, nevertheless he had given in (Mostly because of Mabel's constant pleading and nagging about it. You can't stop her the moment she's started).

As the sun had disappeared over the forest tops and was slowly vanishing below the mountains in the horizon; Mabel, Dipper and Soos followed Stan into the woods.

"I asked Wendy if she wanted to join." Mabel said to her brother and nudged him with an elbow, "But she said she had to babysit her little brothers." She added with a sigh and a shrug. "Wendy promised another time though so I'll make sure she keeps that." With a happy skip she went forward a little quicker than Dipper with Waddles following.

Dipper however had gotten the whole 'just a little brother' back into his mind, which he had finally forgotten but it was probably never gonna go away with Mabel around to remind it from time to time. Yet he couldn't really embrace the fact and besides; they were twins! Five minutes meant nothing.

Right?

He shook it off for now. It was fire and marshmallow time and after a few minutes of walking the reached a circle of rocks that seemed to have been used for firing up the ground. Old burnt twigs were spread out around the place together with ash that had yet to be caught by breezes.

Speaking of wind, an odd cold sensation hit Dipper and he looked the way it came from. A weird fog was appearing between the trees. In a brief moment Dipper could have sworn that he saw something move in the fog, something just as blurry as the rest; but it could just as well have been a hallucination.

The fire burnt nicely and Mabel was already smothered in her fourth s'more… the crazy amount of sugar had made a bit hyperactive and she was insisting on acting out the ghost stories as she told them. Though enjoying the evening Dipper was still feeling slightly uneasy about the thickening fog… it was as though it had a mind of its own and grew around the trees surrounding them but not actually swallowing them inside. It could also have been the fire, Dipper was unsure.

"And so the pig-monster swallowed the last girl in one last big muddy bite! Rawr!" Using Waddles she prodded Dipper's cheeks with the hoofs. "Ah Mabel!" He exclaimed waving the pig away. She laughed proudly before giving him a cheeky grin. "How'd you like THAT story bro?"

"It was the most ridicules story I've heard in a long time - what happened to the clown?" Stan asked leaning a little back; he looked tired and maybe slightly annoyed. "The clown was never heard from again, I told you that." Mabel said as-a-matter-of-fact but he didn't buy it.

"Okay - time for me to go home. Soos! Make sure to turn off the fire right and don't get lost and all that. I don't want to pay money for setting the forest on fire… again." He grumbled. Soos saluted with an expression of determination. "Ay ay sir."

When Stan was completely out of sight Soos turned to the twins. "Okay my turn to tell a story and this is a myth of the forest here in Gravity Falls… and it is crazy bonkers creepy." He started, wiggling with the fingers. His voice was in that 'This is true and scary' kind of tone which caught both kids' attention.

"It's said that whenever there has been a storm and rain has laid itself as a cover on the plants in the wood the ghosts of hateful animals rise and creates a fog out of it." Dipper's stomach turned, this seemed familiar? However Mabel was already wide eyed with interest.

"And they use the fog to capture humans inside in revenge."

"Revenge?" The twins echoed. Dipper's fingers were twitching over the book inside his vest and he was restraining a need to check up a page. Soos nodded in response.

"These animals are those who have been left for dead through out the years by humans. Mistake kills or they haven't been found by the hunters. They do not appreciate the treatment and demand the respect that they should have." Soos was searching their eyes for any kind of fear for the horror story. Mabel of course didn't seem to be affected in that way, except she seemed hurt for the animals and was hugging Waddles promising him a lot of things, but Dipper was staring quite nervously; not at Soos but around the fireplace.

"Of course nothing happens if you walk straight through the fog, getting out of the forest as quickly as possible. However!" He raised his right index finger, the last embers from the fire giving it all an eerie sense of light in the darkness. "Should it happen you gain eye contact with one of the animals you'll be cursed to join them in the forest always in pain and agony until the day you die."

Dipper swallowed a thick lump of spit at this thing and Mabel gasped hugging her pet pig tightly, almost choking the poor creature. "I'd never ever, ever, ever, ever, forever leave Waddles in the forest! Ever! And especially not to die! Waddles deserve the most beautiful funeral in the world. But of course you and I are gonna live forever! Aren't we buddy?" She pressed her nose against the pig's snout and it grunted causing her to squeal with happiness and press her cheeks against its face. "He said yes! Did you hear! He said yes!"

"That or doorbell." Dipper joked but she stuck out her tongue. "You're just jealous that I have a pet and you don't."

"To be honest I don't think I'm qualified to keep an animal… I'm not sure you are either but you don't see me walk around claiming that." He grinned but the knot in his stomach didn't seem to disappear. It was getting kind of foggy and they had to get back before it became too difficult to find their way back since Stan wasn't here.

"We should camp out here!" Mabel said raising her arms. "Won't you agree Soos!?" She was jumping around him as the big guy shovelled a bunch of dirt on the burnt out wood. "Camp out here? Tonight? I don't think that's a good idea. It's today those animal ghosts are haunting." He shivered. "Maybe we should head back." Dipper couldn't help but smirk, Soos was just as nervous as he was but the man had always been rather sensitive about stuff like that. Yet it was a nice feeling that he wasn't alone about turning back.

Mabel however let out a disappointed 'aw' but didn't object when they turned to walk back. Dipper wanted to check his book when he came back; actually he wanted to check it right this minute but it was too dark.

Soos lead the way. The guy had fortunately brought a flash light. Nice to know the handyman had a flashlight on him so Mabel and Dipper followed behind him. Mabel was still high on her sugar trip and was spitting words that didn't seem of this world while Dipper was falling behind, glancing around the fog. He felt the unease grow and the stomach twist the knot another time.

Then he saw it. In the fog was that other thing he'd only seen small glimpses of earlier. It was a creature of light and white except a pair of strong yellow eyes and an oval pupil. It was standing there clear as the day staring straight back at Dipper who had frozen in his tracks, forgetting that the other's were already disappearing into the fog. His mind blurred and he didn't blink or move at all. They were looking into each other's eyes for what seemed to be a long time until it turned around and walked further into the forest. No control of his motions Dipper followed. Step by step he walked further into the forest. The trees started to cover the starry night and it became only darker and foggier the more he walked. But Dipper didn't notice.

The creature walked, knowing the human was following it all the way. After a long time walking all there was left of any light source was the creature now clearly looking like a fox. Dipper blinked, his thoughts returning and the memory clearing. "Huh? Wha?" When he realised what had happened his heart dropped the pit of his stomach. "Oh no!" Not knowing what else to do Dipper turned on his heels and dashed the way he meant had been the trail he'd been walking. But no matter where he ran he always ended up with the fox creature standing in front of him.

Dipper was now shaking. "You're a ghost tale! This is a dream." He laughed nervously but it came out as a weird miserable sob. "I'm doomed. Aren't I?"

_"Not as doomed as me"_

A sudden and severe headache came over Dipper and he nearly tripped over a root, losing his balance. "W-What." Was all he could muster before bumped into a tree to keep himself upstanding. The creature vaporised into thin air leaving out one last glowing stare at Dipper and with that last picture to his mind, he blacked out.

_"...pe.."_

_"...ey little... W...ke u.." _

_"Com.. on Dipp..."_

_"Let...ee if mon..works."  
"Mone..only... orks on you grunk.. Stan!" _

_"...ooks like he's ...oving."_

_"...ipper?" _

"DIPPER!"

Finally getting through the dream world, the twelve year old kid opened up his eyes to discover Mabel, Soos and grunkle Stan hovering over him. "HE'S ALIVE!" Mabel cheered and hugged him tightly.

"Urgh! Mabel! I'm not breathing!" He said with a raspy voice still trying to wrap his mind around the real world. Everything was still hazed and maybe spinning a bit too. When she lat go of him he realised how sore his body actually felt but then tensed up. "W-Where am I!?" Quickly looking around he discovered he was not in the woods but actually lying in his own in the very familiar attic at the Shack. He didn't remember walking all the way back.

"I'm home?"

"Yeah Dippy. The little waterfall discovered you hadn't returned with her and Soos so we all took out to find you."

"All of you?" Dipper asked in surprise and looked at his great uncle who snorted. "Oh come on. I'm not heartless." Dipper narrowed his eyebrows, not believing a single word of that. "Okay you're right I only have money on my mind, but your parents would kill me if I didn't find you." Now that seemed like a better excuse. Dipper leaned back into the bed with a tired groan, he felt sick. "Mabel and Soos took shifts looking after you after we found you. Though Mabel was a bit more persistent on staying up."

"I'll never leave my brother's side." Mabel said with a proud smile.

Dipper felt grateful for having a twin sister like that. He'd done exactly the same and even though Mabel could seem a bit over active from time to time she was the best sister to have. Always supported him and always helped him - despite their disagreements sometimes, but those are bound to happen when you have a sibling.

"But good to see you up squirt then I won't have to call anybody and save money on that." Stan said and left the room. Dipper grimaced. The man was in that typical nightwear consisting on missing pants and bunny slippers. Not surprisingly, Dipper felt ill again.

Not exactly the vision you like to see right after a black out. Dipper thought to himself before turning his attention to Soos and Mabel.

"Oh man little dude I am sorry for loosing you out there. It was entirely my fault." Soos said fidgeting with his fingers; the poor guy was feeling guilty and Dipper grinned softly. "Hey no man it was my own fault I got distracted and went a wrong way."

For the first time Mabel didn't answer and her smile was unusual. Not that kind of warm, wide grin she always had but a forced one. Maybe they should talk about this alone, as in 'without Soos' so getting him to leave without actually telling him to had to be done first. It was easy enough. "Oh hey. Is that grunkle Stan calling, Soos? Better go check out what he wants?" Dipper lied and pointed toward the door. Soos stiffened. "Sorry but I'm needed elsewhere! Call if you need me." He dashed out of the room. "I'm coming Mister Pines!"

Now to the harder part of this.

"Okay sister." Dipper said with a demanding tone of voice and sat up in his bed. "Spill."

"Spill? Spill what. I have nothing to spill - want me to get the can of beans so I can spill them?"

"Mabel." He was pressing on the name causing her to swallow before giving up. "Oh alright… though it shouldn't be me who's spilling, but you." Dipper's expression changed in a second from harsh to surprised.

"You never get distracted Dipper. And especially not at times when you're that scared."  
"I wasn't scared!" He complained but she waved a hand and almost spat in his face with the tongue. "Oh please, you were shaking after that story."

"Story…? Oh!" He quickly pulled out the book, suddenly remembering what he had originally planned on doing when he came home. "Dipper, wait!" She pulled the book from him and despite a big effort on getting it back he still felt too ill to really fight for it. "You can look in the book when we've talked." She was using a tone of voice you usually only heard when your parents was lecturing you. "You disappeared all of sudden. As your big sister I demand to know what happened." Mabel was being commanding and oh joy she used the whole big sister issue again.

"Why do you insist on reminding me that you're _five minutes older _than me?" His words dripped quick and fluid, not that he was angry at her or anything but still; it was annoying as heck because it really didn't matter. Just like the issue about her being taller than him. They had finished that one so should they repeat this fight again? Because they definitely had had it before. At least once a year.

"Because a fact is a fact." She smiled warmly and Dipper sighed throwing his head on the pillow.

"Now tell me what happened out there." Mabel finished and sat down on his bed with a concerned expression and wiggling her legs back and forth. "You did kinda disappear out of nowhere. We found you sleeping in the middle of the forest hours later." Sleeping; of course she would use that term. With a silent sigh Dipper searched through his memory for 'last night' to see if he could come up with a good explanation.

Oddly enough most of the memory from after they left the fireplace was just a big blur.

"I don't… remember." He whispered, questioning himself; why he didn't remember and what exactly had happened at that time?

"You simply just don't remember?" She asked, obviously not satisfied with an answer of that level but Dipper shook his head telling her that he really didn't remember and his memory was like a fog. All unclear and white.

"Um… Mabel do you think I can read that book now? I want to see something. Maybe it can help me remember?"

"Oh. I had forgotten I was still having that." She laughed and handed him the book and Dipper sat up straight(Ignoring the stupid headache for now). The book opened and Dipper could feel the old parchment at his hands. He began searching the pages one by one. "I do however remember the story Soos told us yesterday. Remember it? The myth of the hateful spirits?"

"I do! It was not scary at all but it was sad! I feel bad for those critters." Mabel said and gave Waddles a few pets on its head making it grunt in response. "I was so sure I had heard that story from somewhere and I think I read something about it earlier - wait, here!"

Reaching the right page Dipper spread it out on the bed for to see. It was just like the other pages; old and yellow from time taking its toll on it filled with lots of scribbles and again a wonderful drawing of a mean looking deer in white surrounded by fog and trees of the woodlands.

**"Legend has it that these Animal Spirits only come out when the ground has been covered in a thick blanket of water only possible from storms."**

He looked at Mabel who returned the glance with raised eyebrows.

_**"Their eyes says to contains so much hate and pain from before their deaths that if humans look into them they'll disappear in the forest forever only to feel the agony these creatures ones did. **_

_**"I have little to no plans on trying to see if this myth is true but the creatures have been discovered in the fog from time to time."**_

Dipper skimmed the rest, it was exactly like the story Soos had told. Until he reached further into what was actually written on the pages.

**"Deeper research has made me discover a theory of some sort of darkness or shadow very deep within the forest -"**

_'The Shadow…'_

Dipper groaned loudly cutting off his reading and rubbed a hand against his head. Mabel looked up not liking to see her brother feeling this ill. "Want me to get some water?" She asked - it was so rare Dipper heard the worry in her voice that he always was caught off guard because of it. "Oh, umm no I think it's gone." He gave her a reassuring smile but both knew that he was lying, the headache wasn't gone. In fact it only seemed to have gotten worse since he woke up and (though he was keeping this fact to himself) Dipper was sure he heard a voice, a mere whisper in his head just now.

The same whisper as before?

* * *

_A/N: I hoped you all enjoyed this second chapter :3 _

_And I promise very much that stuff will happen in the next!  
_


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

* * *

Dipper had refused to leave the bed for the rest of the day. It wasn't like him to hide under covers when feeling ill or ill-tempered but today was just screaming 'no' for him. Mabel tried several ways to trick him out of bed but the only times when he left was when he was in the need for the bathroom.

She even tried luring him out by using Wendy's hat which he still had - heck she even tried using Wendy but when he refused that too she gave up. "Sorry about that Wendy, Dipper's really feeling down in the dumps lately." She huffed and crossed her arms. Wendy had made herself comfortable in the chair behind the counter, observing Mabel who was spinning around on the globe once again. Probably her favourite activity to do when hanging out in the gift shop.

"Aw it's okay. Everybody has a bad day once in a while." She grinned at the other. "Yeah but hiding under duvets and sweaters is my thing." Mabel replied all offended about Dipper taking claim. "He's the one supposed cheer me up when I go to Sweatertown. He can't just lie around and be the king of Pillowcountry!"

"Let me guess… you don't know how to do it?" Wendy asked and leaned over the counter with her typical smirk. "No! This is Dipper's job. My job is to smile and make him less of a stick in the mud." She gasped interrupting herself. Mabel's eyes grew wide and her whole expression changed and it looked like the brunette was having an epiphany. "Wendy!" Quickly she waved both hands, or sleeves which was much longer than her arms in front of the other's face. Of course she was already paying attention so it wasn't exactly necessary but Wendy nodded and removed her hand. "Yes Mabel?"

"You're an older sister right?"

"Last time I checked, yeah." Wendy replied with a smile already knowing where this was going. "What do you do when one of your brothers are upset?" Mabel stopped spinning on the globe knowing that this was an issue she wanted to fix but stopping a huge globe while sitting on top of it was more difficult than expected and it still spun around slowly stopping.

"Well it really isn't that difficult; you just need to know the right use of words."

"That's not how I function." Mabel said and faced the globe, sliding off slowly to the ground where she was just lying on the stomach with her face dug into the planks. "Ow splinters." She took a breath. "I don't know how to handle these issues - maybe he should just sleep them off."

"It's not always the best to plan out what to say before facing the person with the problem kiddo." Wendy said and walked over to the other. Mabel wasn't moving and all she did was making little whining noises making Wendy chuckle. "If you go in and talk to him, maybe the words will come to you automatically. It's a special mechanism between siblings and since you're twins it must be an even stronger one of those, right?"

There was a long silence where Mabel just laid on the floor with her face turned the same way, mumbling nonsense until… "You're right! We must have a stronger connection! Thank you Wendy!" Mabel jumped to her feet, the wonderful glow in her face was back - no it wasn't just her braces reflecting in the sunlight. It was that wonderfully gleam with childish innocence that she was spreading everywhere she went.

Back at the bedroom, Dipper was hiding his head under the cover whining; not just about a headache but also about many other things. It was too bright outside and he couldn't remember anything from that moment the left the fireplace. This could might as well be a hangover; but of course it wouldn't have been legal so it definitely was something we can exclude… Well at least for Dipper and Mabel's part (Maybe Soos too).

"Shut up." Dipper complained tucking himself further into the duvet. Weird whispers and noises were ravaging his mind and he couldn't think up any solution to make it go away because the problem was keeping anything in his mind back.

_'Dipper…' _

"Nooo." He groaned and covered his ears.

"Yes Dipper." The voice had changed into a female sort of high pitched version. "Get out of there!" Something grabbed the duvet and ripped it off. "Whoa!" Dipper, who had been holding a firm grip onto the thing nearly flew with it and toppled over the bed and to the floor. Looking up he saw none other than his sister. She was wearing that trademark sweater and today the picture on it was the head of a unicorn surrounded by stars or sparkles - Dipper wasn't sure, it could might as well be himself that was seeing stars from the impact with the floor. Funny enough, wooden floor is very hard when you hit it with the head first.

"Oh… it was you who spoke, H-hi Mabel, What's up?" He smiled sheepishly and sat up, rubbing the back of his sore head.

"Oh nothing much I just thought I would check on my only brother. Why are you talking to yourself?" Mabel asked and narrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "I-I wasn't talking to myself." Dipper lied. He was a horrible liar, it was easy enough to figure out whenever he wasn't telling the truth but Mabel had that speciality of just recognise it much easier that anyone else, even before he had actually started talking. Their parents couldn't even see trough him as quickly as she could.

"Ooh I w-wasn't talking to myself." She mocked with a funny voice before laughing at her own joke. "Come on Dipper. Unlike you I'm not that gullible." She helped him back up on his feet and though her brother wobbled a bit in the beginning he was standing up nonetheless. She poked him a few times on the cheeks and stomach making him laugh lightly. "I wanna knoow!"

"I-it's nothing. Really." Dipper said trying to convince himself about. If he was it would be clear enough to convince Mabel but every person in the world knows it's a lot easier to convince anybody but yourself. When she didn't seem to stop expecting a clear answer Dipper had to come up with another kind of excuse. "Nothing I can explain at least?" He shrugged and gave her the same sheepish smile from before.

Mabel's eyebrows went even lower; it was almost scary to see her with that scowl on her lips. "Come on sis. I promise when I find out what it is, you'll be the first to know - okay? I might just need some rest." He had to admit that he was pretty tired at this moment despite it being early afternoon.

"Oh alright." She finally gave up on pushing the information out of him; he was simply too stubborn at this moment.

Mabel turned around and started to let her brain do some work. A plan must be planned. She was definitely making him talk no matter how it should be done -

"Wait Dipper what are you doing!?" The rustling behind her had caught up with her attention and turning around Mabel discovered, that Dipper was pulling the duvet over him again and not paying any interest in what she was doing this moment. "I'm going to take a nap."

"But you haven't told me and I haven't even made up a plan to do so!" She said and tried pulling the cover off him again but this time Dipper had been prepared and ripped it away from her hands. "Well then sis. You now have a couple of hours to so, I will be napping and you won't stop me. Maybe I can even figure out what actually happened last night - because I still want to know." He turned the back to her, staring tiredly into the wall. It was old and worn and it was obvious that this attic hadn't been used over a long time before they arrived.

However it was also pretty cosy and not moist or cold as he had expected in the beginning - thank god. Dipper fell asleep rather quick despite Mabel's chatting about nothing to Waddles in the beginning. The last thing he heard before loosing himself into the sleep he heard her mention something about the invisible wizard and a closet. Why though he wasn't sure.

What should only have been a few hours nap developed into him sleeping the rest if the day away. Mabel had been checking up on him constantly and tried to wake him up but he had apparently just groaned a few nonexistent words before going back to sleep.

_'Dipper…' _

_'The book…' _

The whisper in his mind was back again, and here Dipper thought he could avoid it if he was sleeping.

_'Dipper… I want it.'_

Irritated he forced his eyes open and noticed the sudden darkness around him. "Huh?" Dipper rubbed his eyes tiredly and sat up in his bed. Mabel was sleeping on the other side of the room and her wall with the many posters looked like they had changed tone of colours in the night light. The moon seemed to be close to full because it was bright enough to see the world around him. "It's night?" He whispered to himself. "Why didn't Mabel wake me?"

Dipper could feel the hunger crawling around in his empty stomach and he remembered he'd barely gotten any food all day. Breakfast seemed familiar but neither lunch nor dinner was something he remembered. He must have slept right through and grunkle Stan had probably not bothered the slightest about it. "Maybe this is the answer to the worsening headache." Dipper muttered to himself and got out of bed. A whole day in that one had made the boy slightly restless for getting some food and maybe some fresh air too.

_'Dipper…!'_

Trying to ignore the voice in his head Dipper took on the blue and white hat and a new t-shirt. Sleeping wear wasn't the best thing to sneak around in here, Stan might discover him and he would be mocked for the rest of the summer. Dipper shivered at that thought. No, that was definitely not going to happen. He thought to himself and moved on by taking on his black sneakers.

_'I want it…'_

"Whatever kind of voice you are, you're not getting the book." Dipper whispered with a frown. "Wait… why am I talking to myself again?" He slapped a flat hand to his face and then snuck down to the fridge to see if there was any kind of leftovers or snacks he could eat - of course their wasn't. "Stingy old man." Dipper growled to himself and closed it again, taking a glass of water instead. "You could at least have bought some kind of snack or something but no."

Dipper went outside. The cool night air was helping slightly on his headache. But of course; only slightly. He sat down at the porch drinking the rest of the water. He was right about the moon - almost full but not entirely. However it gave the forest a pretty but still sort of eerie dark blue glow in the night. Not to talk about the fog.

"The fog?" Dipper blinked and got back on his feet. "The fog… the fog." Dipper tapped his cheek, it all seemed much familiar.

_'Go to the fog, Dipper.'_

Dipper groaned and rubbed his head vigorously messing his hair up more than it already was. "Get out of my head!" He demanded.

_'Not before you go to the fog Dipper.'_

"How do you even know my name?" Determined to find out who this voice was and where it came from, Dipper began searching around the around the house and on the grounds right at the edge of the forest - carefully enough to not go into the fog.

_'I know everything about you, Dipper Pines.' _

A cold sensation slid down his spine and Dipper got more nervous about this odd voice. "Who are you?"

_'Go to the fog and find out.' _Whispered the voice like a breeze in the cool wind and Dipper swallowed thickly. "How can I trust you to not be some kind of evil thing that'll try and annihilate me as soon as I step into it?"

_'You cannot_.' It whispered again and Dipper frowned. "Oh whoopee and what makes you think that I'll go into it now?"

_'Because you are already on your way.' _

Dipper's eyes widened when he noticed that his legs were moving on its own, "Hey - What!? No! I am not going in there! Stop!" He tried but it didn't seem to help, every step he took closer to the fog feeling an uneasy sense in the air. Like some kind of energy had changed around him and was currently pushing Dipper toward something he really didn't want to see what would result in.

Fighting deemed worthless in the end though Dipper did fight till he was just about to be surrounded completely by the fog. He took a deep breath and clenched his teeth afraid of the outcome when another voice - again inside his head, exploded in both ears.

_"NO!" _

Something in blinding white just appeared from the deeper parts of the forest and joined Dipper in the fog. It felt like a harsh jerk in the spine and Dipper yelped shortly in pain and his world began spinning. "Wh-whoa what's going on?" The ground felt like shaking beneath his feet and the fog began twitching and move fast in circling motions. "Okay what IS going on?" He asked nervously. This is the moment where anybody wanted to flee but the fog was thickening fast as it spun around him and the ground still shaking - Dipper was amazed that he had been able to stand up for this long.

Never speak too soon though when the ground finally gave a violent twitch he tripped but the expected impact with the land didn't happen. As a matter of fact no part of his body was touching the it in any way. "I'm floating?" He asked and tried moving his body to look down. "Wait! NO!" The fog wrapped around him like a thick rope and whitened everything around him. The forest, the Shack, even the sky was now gone and all he could see was the vaporising water surrounding him more and more and pressing hard against his body. His heart sunk to his stomach and the breathing sped up in fear.

Dipper felt blinded and strangled, fighting to get free was quickly precluded when he noticed it tightened around his body and closing in his lungs. "HELP! MABEL!" Dipper screamed but the next ended in a wheeze when the fog tightened again.

Mabel sat up in her bed feeling a shock from her mind. "DIPPER!" It was like she had heard his cry in a dream and quickly she looked out of the window. There was a thick layer of fog in one tiny area and Mabel could just slightly make out that there was something in the middle of it. It almost looked like a cloud on the ground. But when she noticed a blue colour from a familiar hat inside it and a struggling body her throat closed. "Oh no! Dipper!"

In her night gown and without shoes Mabel dashed down the stairs and outside on the porch. "Dipper!"

The white surroundings began to turn black for his eyes from the lack of air to his brain and Dipper felt ill, scared to death and in pain. "MABEL! M-Mabel… he… elp." his muscles stopped tensing and his eyes was on its last seconds from closing.

New and unfortunately, painful sensations spread through his body, odd and tingling from the back of his head and all the way down the end of his spine.

'Pop pop.'

'Pop'

It was like someone blew the fog away right after and it split up, disappearing in the wind. Dipper fell back down to the ground, trembling in the last potion of pain before returning his breathing into a more normal and calm kind. He could relax again.

"Dipper…" Mabel's voice was filled with concern and it scared Dipper more than anything. She wasn't supposed to be scared of concerned on his account but this was unnatural and had taken a toll on none other than the finder of Book 3. Coincidence? Most likely not. But this needed more - ach! Dipper curled together when someone touched him lightly on the side. He was sore all over. "M-Mabel don't t-" His voice was weak and hoarse and it felt hard to use it at this moment.

"Dipper if it wasn't because I just saw what happened I would have thought you were coming up with a new idea for Summerween." She suddenly said, confusing Dipper.

"W-what?" He turned and looked up at her and for the first time he saw her sister looking like she was in shock if not slightly scared. But why was it so bright? Wasn't it darker before? Despite the moon shining it shouldn't be this easy to see around. "Is it morning already?" He glanced at his watch and with its bright letters, making it easier for him to see and therefore discover that it was only 2 am.

"That's strange." He muttered.

"Not as strange as what you are about to discover bro." Said Mabel and grimaced. Dipper sighed and looked at her. "What?"

"Um…" She seemed to be a little distressed about what to do but eventually reached down and pulled hard in a long and orange tail. Dipper yelped out in pain and jumped to his feet. "OW! QUIT THA -" He froze. "Did that just hurt me?" Mabel nodded slowly. Starting to tremble once again he glanced behind and saw a thick tail in a strong orange colour with a white tip. In short; A fox tail.

"Why is there hanging a tail down from my shirt, and why can't I - ow!" He tried pulling it away but it jerked painfully in his tailbone oddly enough and he quit that idea just as quickly as he had thought it.

"It's not the only thing Dipper." She pointed at his face or more specifically; his ears.

He swallowed. This was not boding well. Hesitating Dipper lifted his left hand and poked first very carefully and when it didn't feel like that usual hairless skin his heart dropped again. He grabbed it with two fingers and it was filled with soft fur and they had gotten bigger, to fit with the fox tail he had of course gotten fox ears.

With a summer filled with surprises and unexpected things every day Dipper had thought that nothing could surprise him. But right now he was eating his words down to the very last sentence. The shock came uninvited through his body and everything was closing down, fast.

"Umm Mabel?" Dipper asked, his body swaying from side to side.

"Dipper you're pale. Are you -" Without further warning her brother lost his consciousness and fell into her arms. She caught him right in the knick of time but fell back on her rump.

"Oh Dipper… You can't run from an explanation this time."

* * *

_A/N: _

_Credit for the name "Pillowcountry" for the ask blog:  
_

_"Werecatdipper" on tumblr. Recommended!  
_


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